Giddiness / Dizziness

Vertigo is a feeling that you are dizzily turning around or that things are dizzily turning about you. It is a result of a disturbance of equilibrium. It is also known as dizziness, lightheadedness, giddiness. Some patients describe a feeling of being pulled toward the floor or toward one side of the room. Moving the head, changing position, and turning while lying down often worsens it.

Vertigo is different from dizziness, which is usually a feeling of unpleasant fuzziness in the head. It makes trying to move difficult because of a loss of balance, as well as the nausea and vomiting that often accompany it.

Attacks can confine people to their homes and even to their beds. An acute attack can start very suddenly and last from a few minutes to as long as 12 to 24 hours.

More than 40 percent of Americans will seek medical assistance for dizziness at some point during their lives. Experiences with dizziness increase with age. Among people aged 75 or older, dizziness is the most common reason for visiting.

Homoeopathic Treatment

Vertigo is a symptom rather than a disease. To treat it a physician needs to treat the disease causing it.

In our everyday lives, we almost take it for granted that the balance or equilibrium is maintained within our bodies. People who have disturbed balancing power or equilibrium are the ones who cannot walk, stand or even sit.

To go out of home might be pleasurable for some but distressing for people who suffer with vertigo. Their life is made miserable by nausea, vomiting, difficulty in standing, walking and so on. Fortunately homoeopathy can help!

In the conventional or allopathic treatment the cause of vertigo is overlooked and various medicines prescribed end up worsening it, making the life of patients much more miserable.

The various allopathic drugs used for the treatment of vertigo include :

Meclizine hydrochloride (Antivert) : It is an anti histamine medicine. Side effects include drowsiness, dry mouth.

In homoeopathy the treatment of vertigo is directed towards treating underlying cause of the condition. The causes like BPPV, chronic otitis media, trauma, migraine, labyrinthitis and so on can be effectively taken care by treatment. In the drug induced vertigo homoeopathy has marvelous results. It will help the patient leave the other medicines he or she is on as homoeopathic medicines are prescribed after a complete case taking addressing all the complaints of the patient.

The treatment helps in reducing the intensity of vertigo and gradually helps in reducing the frequency of attacks. It improves the general immunity and vitality of the patient apart from targeting the cause and will help the patient lead a normal, enjoyable life.

Allopathic medicines are ready to use or are known with the name of the disease while homoeopathic medicines are prepared after knowing the individual reactions and the modalities that alter the symptoms. There are special medicines which can tackle vertigo very easily without giving side effects to the one who is already suffering.

Even though nobody thinks of homoeopathy in an acute condition of vertigo, miraculous cure can be seen in such cases. Remedies can cure the condition rather than control it temporarily.

Homoeopathy is strongly recommended and the medication will help the patients to get back to health without having any of the side effects of allopathic or conventional medication.

There are 618 medicines which give great relief in vertigo or dizziness or giddiness or lightheadedness. However, the correct choice and the resulting relief is a matter of experience and right judgment on the part of the doctor. The treatment is decided after thorough case taking of the patient. Thus remedies are designer made unlike allopathy in which all patients receive the same drugs although trade name may be different.

Causes

Vertigo usually occurs when there’s a problem with the inner ear balance mechanisms, or with the brain, or with the nerve connections between the brain and the middle ear.

Possible causes include :

Injury : A fracture of the skull which injures or, in any way, harms one’s inner ear creates an intense and debilitating vertigo. This may lead to hearing loss.

Infections : Germs, viruses, bacilli like those that cause a common “cold” or “influenza,” could also assault one’s inner ear as well as its nerve connections to one’s brain. This could also be cause of acute vertigo. However, in such cases, hearing is generally spared, for example, labyrinthitis, chronic otitis media.

Neurological diseases : Quite a lot of ailments of the nerves are liable to affect balance. These include multiple sclerosis, syphilis, tumors, so on and so forth.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) : The unusual response to head movements by the semicircular canal can give patients vertigo symptoms. BPPV most commonly occurs in elderly patients. A blow to the head can cause BPPV; even a minor blow. BPPV can also be caused by disorders that damage the inner ear, infection, ear surgery damage, or if the patient has been lying on his / her back for too long.

Meniere’s disease : Dysfunction of the semi-circular canals (endolymphatic sac) in the inner ear. Patients experience recurrent vertigo, as well as tinnitus and loss of hearing in the affected ear, abnormal eye movements, nausea, and vomiting. People with Meniere’s disease usually find that the tinnitus gets worse over time. Hearing loss may start off as intermittent, but gradually progresses until it becomes permanent.

Dehydration : Dehydration may lead to feelings of lightheadedness, dizziness, and / or vertigo, especially when changing positions. This symptom is due to a drop in blood pressure.

Migraine : Migraine, a severe form of headache, may also cause vertigo. The vertigo is usually followed by a headache. There is often a prior history of similar episodes but no lasting problems.

Acoustic neuroma : A benign (non-cancerous) tumor that develops on the acoustic nerve of the inner ear; this nerve is involved in helping us balance. Patients who do experience vertigo usually have mild symptoms.

Boat, airplane, car travel (motion sickness) : Some people experience vertigo during and / or after a plane, boat, or even a car trip. This may last from a few minutes, hours to a couple of days.

Diagnosis

The evaluation consists primarily of a medical history and physical examination.

To make an accurate diagnosis of vertigo, a physician should know the following :

What symptoms you have,

How often they occur (frequency),

How long they usually last for (duration).

The doctor may perform tests such as a CT scan if a brain injury is suspected to be the cause.

Blood tests to check blood sugar levels and the use of an electrocardiogram (ECG) to look at heart rhythm may also be helpful.

Other tests include :

Ear x-ray

Hearing tests

Balance tests

Symptoms

The symptoms can vary in severity and may include :

the sensation that your surroundings are moving or spinning,

loss of balance,

nausea,

vomiting,

lightheadedness,

difficulty in standing, and

Difficulty in walking.

Prevention

People whose balance is affected should take precautions to prevent injuries from falls.

Those with risk factors for stroke should control their high blood pressure and high cholesterol and stop smoking.